Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Vox Blogoli V1N1
Hugh Hewitt opens Vox Blogoli for 2005 by asking for comment on the following quote from a Jonathan Rauch piece in the New Atlantic.
"On balance it is probably healthier if religious conservatives are inside the political system than if they operate as insurgents and provocateurs on the outside. Better they should write anti-abortion planks into the Republican platform than bomb abortion clinics. The same is true of the left. The clashes over civil rights and Vietnam turned into street warfare partly because activists were locked out of their own party establishments and had to fight, literally, to be heard. When Michael Moore receives a heroÂ’s welcome at the Democratic National Convention, we moderates grumble; but if the parties engage fierce activists while marginalizing tame centrists, that is probably better for the social peace than the other way around."
Where to begin with a passage like this? Three points I think.
1) The romanticization of the social upheaval of the 60's is hard to deal with. I will agree with Rauch's assertion that civil rights activists had to take to the streets to be heard, but not so the anti-Vietnam crowd, the pro-abortion crowd, the ERA crowd, and so on and so forth. These are people that in my opinion fell in love with the protest and not the cause. And I should be quick to point out that the absolute last thing the civil rights people wanted was "street warfare." Dr. King's primary tool was non-violence. Yes - many of the demonstrations turned into street warfare, but on the actions of the other side, not on the actions of the protestors themselves.
I think the left really has lost its way completely. The misunderstanding of what happened then that is apparent in this quote would indicate that they have no clue what they stand for, other than being radical somehow. That's just a shame. The civil rights movement under Dr. King was one of the great movements in American history -- but what it has morphed into is just shameful.
2) I cannot believe that he lumps religious conservatives together with abortion clinic bombers. It's as if we did not have a voice in the party we would instantly resort to bombing. What this says is that in the mind of the left, the ends justifies the means. They ignore the fact that the very essence of our ends (our religious convictions) of necessity limits our means. I pointed this out in the very first post I made on this new blog.
Does the left pay no attention to the fact that abortion clinic bombing are almost universally condemned on the right? I think this says more about what they are willing to do, that what we are.
3) The thinking represented in this quote is so far from my way of thinking that it is a bit terrifying. I am reminded of a scripture:
Isa 55:8-9(NAS)
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
This scripture makes it plain that I will never really understand God's thoughts or ways, and I work at it. The difference between how Rauch thinks and how I think can only drive home how misguided thought, loosed from an effort to understand the thoughts of the Creator, can become.
When I read such thinking, I feel called to redouble my efforts at scripture and prayer. Only by constantly seeking God, can I hope to even come close to His thoughts. Only by proximity to His thoughts can I have the necessary foundation to keep my thoughts from going too far astray.
UPDATE: 4:06 PM same date. Just heard Hugh's interview with Rauch -- great interview -- way to push on him Hugh! I was confused the first time I read Hugh's excerpt, I thought Rauch wanted it both ways -- which is what he said in the interview. But when one reads the words carefully, the implications are transparent. I think this is a very thin veil.
"On balance it is probably healthier if religious conservatives are inside the political system than if they operate as insurgents and provocateurs on the outside. Better they should write anti-abortion planks into the Republican platform than bomb abortion clinics. The same is true of the left. The clashes over civil rights and Vietnam turned into street warfare partly because activists were locked out of their own party establishments and had to fight, literally, to be heard. When Michael Moore receives a heroÂ’s welcome at the Democratic National Convention, we moderates grumble; but if the parties engage fierce activists while marginalizing tame centrists, that is probably better for the social peace than the other way around."
Where to begin with a passage like this? Three points I think.
1) The romanticization of the social upheaval of the 60's is hard to deal with. I will agree with Rauch's assertion that civil rights activists had to take to the streets to be heard, but not so the anti-Vietnam crowd, the pro-abortion crowd, the ERA crowd, and so on and so forth. These are people that in my opinion fell in love with the protest and not the cause. And I should be quick to point out that the absolute last thing the civil rights people wanted was "street warfare." Dr. King's primary tool was non-violence. Yes - many of the demonstrations turned into street warfare, but on the actions of the other side, not on the actions of the protestors themselves.
I think the left really has lost its way completely. The misunderstanding of what happened then that is apparent in this quote would indicate that they have no clue what they stand for, other than being radical somehow. That's just a shame. The civil rights movement under Dr. King was one of the great movements in American history -- but what it has morphed into is just shameful.
2) I cannot believe that he lumps religious conservatives together with abortion clinic bombers. It's as if we did not have a voice in the party we would instantly resort to bombing. What this says is that in the mind of the left, the ends justifies the means. They ignore the fact that the very essence of our ends (our religious convictions) of necessity limits our means. I pointed this out in the very first post I made on this new blog.
Does the left pay no attention to the fact that abortion clinic bombing are almost universally condemned on the right? I think this says more about what they are willing to do, that what we are.
3) The thinking represented in this quote is so far from my way of thinking that it is a bit terrifying. I am reminded of a scripture:
Isa 55:8-9(NAS)
8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
This scripture makes it plain that I will never really understand God's thoughts or ways, and I work at it. The difference between how Rauch thinks and how I think can only drive home how misguided thought, loosed from an effort to understand the thoughts of the Creator, can become.
When I read such thinking, I feel called to redouble my efforts at scripture and prayer. Only by constantly seeking God, can I hope to even come close to His thoughts. Only by proximity to His thoughts can I have the necessary foundation to keep my thoughts from going too far astray.
UPDATE: 4:06 PM same date. Just heard Hugh's interview with Rauch -- great interview -- way to push on him Hugh! I was confused the first time I read Hugh's excerpt, I thought Rauch wanted it both ways -- which is what he said in the interview. But when one reads the words carefully, the implications are transparent. I think this is a very thin veil.
